[Fawn]

Russethawk
Tom || 30 Moons || RainClan || Warrior
Fired up and ready to go.

Russethawk was the sort of cat who had interesting dreams. Always had been; maybe it had something to do with his overactive imagination? The previous night had been no exception; rather than be a badger or a squirrel or something with a little more mobility, Russethawk had dreamed of his life as a fish, flowing along the river currents and generally enjoying the fact that he no longer had any major duties to tend to besides 'not getting eaten'.

He'd just been starting to miss Clan life in general when a jet black paw had scooped him up out of the water, told him they were going to see Swanfeather, and that he should've been more careful crossing the river. It would've been very bewildering if Russethawk hadn't woken up with a particular memory suddenly called forth from his apprentice days. He'd practically laughed out loud, picturing himself with a swollen jaw after his nasty collision with a rock trying to impress Razorfang back in the day...

Russethawk stretched near the fresh kill pile, having taken a small fish for himself and buried the bones already, his emerald-green sights now set on the apprentices' den. StarClan, this takes me back to the old days. The old days when Sandstar had been leader, and he'd looked forward to any training sessions that overlapped with Lilypaw's most of all. But just look at me now, training one of Razorstar's own kits. The ruddy tom's heart swelled with pride, and he called in softly to the little pale kitten sleeping within. "Wake up, Quietpaw. It's your first day of training!"

The first day.

And, if the fates were kind, the start of a wonderful friendship. He wanted to make his mentor and his cousin proud, and better still, he wanted to give Quietpaw his best—could anyone expect anything less from a tom like him? If they did, they didn't know him very well!

---
Word Count: 319 Words
Tags: @lacihparg

[Deleted]

q u i e t p a w
apprentice, rainclan

Russethawk's familiar voice broke through the newly-apprenticed feline's dreams, pulling her from her slumber. The rush of being called by her new name further drove sleep from her mind, and Quietpaw stood and shook herself, stretching quickly to work out the nighttime stiffness. She didn't want to leave her mentor waiting!

And that Russethawk was her mentor--! She had thanked Razorstar with a nuzzle when he had a free moment after the ceremony. He was so calm and patient and she couldn't think of a better warrior for her mentor for the next however long it would take. She could hardly wait to get started! With a soft touch of her tail to Minnowpaw's shoulder, Quietpaw left the apprentices' den behind and met her mentor outside.

He smelled like fish, but it was a comforting scent in of itself. It must have been his breakfast. Eagerly greeting Russethawk with a touch of her nose, she turned towards the fresh kill pile and glanced back at him, wondering if she could snag a meal herself. Her stomach grumbled annoyingly and she kneaded the ground to distract herself from the sensation. Food could wait if he was ready to get started.

my thoughts they slip away, my words are leaving me
they caught a breeze because i thought of you

fawn ; russethawk :tags
199 :words
eeee i'm excited  :notes

[Fawn]

Russethawk
Tom || 30 Moons || RainClan || Warrior
Fired up and ready to go.

"Go ahead, you can eat first." Russethawk smiled, no way that he'd missed the low, pitiable grumble of her stomach. He definitely didn't want to be the kind of mentor who made his new apprentice catch their own breakfast. Not yet, anyway; when she was older and he knew she could scoop a fish out of the water without difficulty, he'd give her that kind of assignment. For now, Russethawk wasn't going to deprive the kitten of food. I probably should've brought her something. Whoops. Smooth, Russethawk, smooth. Half-expecting Razorstar to appear at even a hint of neglect towards his daughter, the ruddy tom-cat grinned a little to himself.

Razorstar wasn't going to be overbearing, was he? .... Nahhhh. That tom had enough on his paws, he didn't need to worry about Quietpaw's training; Russethawk could proudly say that he had this handled. She'd be a fine warrior for RainClan in no time; he wouldn't boast and turn mentoring into a competition, or make empty promises that he could turn the she-cat into a warrior in four moons instead of six. Maybe if he'd still been that foolish, stubborn, excitable new warrior he'd been just ten moons ago, he would've.

But not today.

"What were you most looking forward to, about training?" asked Russethawk, wanting her honest opinion. Even if she hadn't been anticipating anything, an answer of "I don't know" was a lot better than no answer at all, from where he was standing. He'd asked Rushwhisker the same thing back then. As common as it was to simply dish out orders and flood their spongy minds with knowledge, Russethawk chose a teaching style that suited him. It was, understandably, based on trust, not necessarily the iron will of authority that Razorstar had once exercised.

Word Count: 300 Words
Tags: @lacihparg

[Deleted]

q u i e t p a w
apprentice, rainclan

Quietpaw purred in thanks and made her way towards the freshkill pile, lashing her tail in anticipation of a good breakfast. Upon hearing her mentor's question, she turned her attention from the food to look at him, thinking. What was she excited for? Hunting? Fighting? It was all so new to her! She had no doubt that Russethawk would teach her everything she needed to know (after all, Razorstar did pick him for her), but there was so much to learn. She was excited for all of it, really, but learning how to catch her own food would be amazing!

In response, she turned back to the pile of food and snatched a fish out of it, mimicking how one would catch a fish as best she could. Then, she snapped its head against the ground to "kill" it again, and picked it up in her jaws and brought it back over to where Russethawk waited nearby, eating her food delicately.

Hunting was definitely what she was looking forward to. Quietpaw politely ate then buried the bones, turning back to her mentor with a quizzical look. When would they be leaving? She was ready to go now!

my thoughts they slip away, my words are leaving me
they caught a breeze because i thought of you

fawn ; russethawk :tags
199 :words
--- :notes

[Fawn]

Russethawk
Tom || 30 Moons || RainClan || Warrior
Fired up and ready to go.

Russethawk watched the pale she-cat's charade with interest, easily able to get a sense of what her answer was based on her 'killing' the already dead fish. Well, thought the tom not unkindly, she isn't called Quietpaw for nothing! Training Rushwhisker, who was of a similarly quiet disposition, though not quite to the she-cat's extreme, had taught Russethawk the value of patience with his students. Of course, he was aware of his own youth, and that he was bound to make a mistake some day.

But I don't think that day is going to be today. "You're in luck, Quietpaw!" He mewed, emerald eyes warm as he watched her bury fish bones the way Roselight had taught her. "We can do a territory tour some other time, I'm taking you to the wooded cove, where I'll show you how to fish." Flicking the end of his bushy red tail, Russethawk easily fell into the role of 'leader', guiding her out of camp with a few pleasant 'good mornings' to the cats he passed by, going at an easy pace to give Quietpaw a chance to keep up.

This would be her first trip to the wooded cove, and with that in mind, Russethawk spoke up a quarter of the way into the journey, slowing down to barely a few steps. "I want you to remember the way here, Quietpaw. Go ahead, you can sniff around, maybe see something memorable that you can use to find your way here again. I won't make you go home by yourself," a jester's grin "but it never hurts to be aware of your surroundings." He was quite familiar with the small woods that led into the cove, and the pretty leaves on the grass were dappled with sunlight and shade provided by the foliage overhead. It was the end of green-leaf, the beginning of leaf-fall, and Russethawk found the 'in between season' to be one of the most beautiful.

It was just when the days were getting cooler, but not cold enough to see your breath, and the prey was not yet scarce. What wasn't to love about it?

---
Word Count: 358 Words
Tags: @lacihparg

[Deleted]

q u i e t p a w
apprentice, rainclan

Quietpaw perked her ears as she finished burying the bones, looking up at Rushwhisker in surprise. Hunting already?! She couldn't believe her luck! Just wait until she could tell Minnowpaw! She cast a glance towards the apprentice den, nearly willing her sister to come out and join them before following Russethawk outside the camp. He warmly greeted each cat they passed, but she just kept eyes forward as they trotted along, not wanting to miss a single blade of grass.

As they moved into RainClan territory proper, Quietpaw opened her senses and was happily flooded with a million different things at once. There was a crisp scent that surrounded her, which she assumed was the grass they walked on. Warmer tones floated through the air that smelled similar to the freshkill pile, so she knew prey had been by somewhat recently. She spent the rest of their trip wrapped up in the sights and sounds, trying to work through as many things on her own as she could while keeping pace with her mentor.

So absorbed was she in her identifying that Quietpaw nearly ran into Russethawk when he slowed. She turned to him with crimson cheeks and the best apologetic look in her eyes, but he kept right on going with a lesson. Confused, she reverted to listening to him and set herself upon his task with glee, distracting from the embarrassment coursing through her blood.

Inhaling deeply, she sorted out the scents in front of her and tried to find something identifying amidst the myriad of smells. Skipping over her mentor and the fleeting traces of prey, something deep and cloying pulled at her nose. Quietpaw followed it, nosing her way to a bush that overpowered a lot of the other things nearby. Keeping careful mind of where they had come from and what general direction they were heading, she determined that the bush would be to her left. Thankfully it was bit larger than the other underbrush around, which made it stick out to both her eyes and her ears.

Turning back to Russethawk with a nod, she flicked her tail at the bush and moved to walk in the direction he was pointing. Quietpaw had oriented herself.

my thoughts they slip away, my words are leaving me
they caught a breeze because i thought of you

fawn ; russethawk :tags
373 :words
--- :notes

[Fawn]

Russethawk
Tom || 30 Moons || RainClan || Warrior
Fired up and ready to go.

It was interesting, holding a one-sided lesson; well, lessons usually were but he hadn't been expecting things to be so quiet. Oh well, he'd adjust, and maybe some day she'd warm up enough to actually talk to him; patience was one of his many talents, right next to being a goofball and cheering up his Clanmates.

Forever of the opinion that RainClan held some of the most beautiful areas of the valley, he fulled his lungs with the scents of herbs and running water as they stepped into the wooded cove, ruddy paws moving with a conscious carefulness, trying not to damage any of the valuable, potentially life-saving plants Swanfeather and Ottersplash might need later. "Step carefully, there are a lot of herbs here, and we don't want to frighten the fish."

What's that? A flash of yellow beaks in the sunlight made Russethawk instinctively crouch, noticing that a small group of chickadees had taken to bathing in the low pools of the wooded cove, wetting their wings and spraying droplets over their bodies, feathers fluttering almost too fast for the feline eye to catch. He smiled, having no intention of pouncing just yet. Not only would he probably miss (catching land prey was not really a RainClan cat's forte), but he would scare away anything worth fishing in the pools, and he didn't want Quietpaw's first hunting expedition to end in frustration or failure.

Russethawk almost turned to Quietpaw and said sshhh, keep quiet, and then he almost laughed at how silly it was to say that to her, of all cats; she definitely lived up to her name, and it was a good thing, too. After their baths were finished, and some other noise stirred them from their relaxed leaf-fall morning, the chickadees took off, Russethawk's head tilting back to watch their progress until he couldn't any more. The ruddy tom straightened, looking to the she-kit beside him.
"Those were chickadees, they're a little easier to tell apart from other birds because of their black throats."

---
Word Count: 337 Words
Tags: @lacihparg